Why Abortion Is Our Struggle Too

On 28 September, the global community celebrates the International Safe Abortion Day. This special day was started by grassroots Latin American and Caribbean groups fighting for decriminalization of abortion, access to safe and affordable abortion services, and against stigma and discrimination surrounding abortion.

Safe abortion is not something to be easily found among strategic priorities of LGBTQI organizations, at least unless they openly declare themselves feminist and intersectional. And yet – or perhaps exactly because of that – the fight for safe abortion is also our struggle.

Not every woman has the capacity for pregnancy, and not only women may need an abortion during their lifetime, but such a need may be surrounded by different circumstances. 

Sometimes, the choice to have an abortion is related to previous sexual violence. 

It is the first-hand experience of many lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) women – but also non-binary, intersex and trans persons perceived as women – to be considered a sexual object to entertain – for instance, so many of us were asked to kiss in front of strangers. For some of us, this did not stop at verbal abuse, leading to the phenomenon often referred to as ‘corrective rape.’ The story of Brandon Teena became known worldwide with the ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ movie by Kimberly Peirce. Other stories were revealed by media – for example, in April 2022, Sheila Adhiambo Lumumba, a 25-year-old non-binary lesbian, was reportedly raped and killed by a group of men in Karatina, Kenya. Most instances of sexual violence and rape of LBQ women, non-binary, intersex and trans persons, however, are left untold, uncovered und unpunished – including experiences leading to pregnancy and, consequently, the need to overcome all the barriers in access to abortion.

Another dimension of sexual violence, rape and following need to access abortion is armed conflicts. It has been recognized in international law that sexual violence in armed conflicts is not only a human rights violation but also a weapon of war. At the same time, war makes the situations of already marginalized or vulnerable communities – including LBQ women, non-binary, trans and intersex persons – even more precarious. The previous UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan Méndez, stated that ‘torture and ill-treatment of persons on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity is rampant in armed conflict and perpetrated by State and non-State actors alike, with rape and other forms of sexual violence sometimes being used as a form of “moral cleansing” of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.’ As documented in relation to the Colombian armed conflict, sexual violence has been one of the repertoires used against LGBT people. Of the 139 violent events motivated by prejudice against LGBT people during the armed conflict documented by Colombia Diversa, 38 were sexual violence perpetrated by all actors in the war. Many other armed conflicts, including the current war in Ukraine, are yet to become a focus of comprehensive human rights investigations. While there is no doubt that LBQ women, non-binary, trans and intersex persons have been victims and survivors of these wars, the details of their experiences – including on accessibility of pep, emergency contraception and abortion, especially in places where civil infrastructure has been destroyed – are still unknown.

And yet, 26 countries in the world still do not permit abortion under any circumstances, including when pregnancy is a result of rape.The list of these countries extends to states from different continents and regions and of different political regimes. LGBTQI activists may be particularly surprised to learn about some of these countries. For example, Malta – the state recognizing same-sex marriages, having very progressive legal gender recognition laws, as well as world-first legislation protecting intersex children from non-consensual medical interventions – still does not allow abortion. But what if a lesbian refugee in Malta is pregnant as a result of lesbophobic violence? Can we even think about social justice, equality and non-discrimination, when she, as a woman, a lesbian, a refugee, who may not speak the national language, may not not have financial and emotional resources for a trip to another country to perform an abortion – is left outside by restrictive regulations? It is not just her struggle. It is our struggle too.

The previous UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Dubravka Šimonović, issued a special thematic report on rape as a grave and systematic human rights violation and gender-based violence against women. The report calls on all states to decriminalize consenting sexual relations between adults, including same-sex relations, and further urges states to decriminalize abortion in cases of rape. And yet, there is nothing in the report on LBQ, trans, intersex and non-binary survivors of rape and struggles they face consequently. We, and our needs, are still invisible.

With all this, however, access to safe abortion is what must be guaranteed not only to survivors of sexual violence. It is a broader issue of sexual and reproductive justice, something needed by everyone with the capacity for pregnancy, whatever the cause of the pregnancy. 

If we want to overcome patriarchal and colonial regimes, we still have a long way to move away from restrictive binary mindsets while discussing our own communities. As our shared values are about consensual sexuality, physical and mental integrity, safety and the right to pleasure – we simply cannot ignore the fight for safe abortion. For the sake of ending bisexual erasure, to care about bisexual cis women who are in relationships with cis men. For the sake of stopping transphobia, including within our own communities, to think about cis lesbian women who are in relationships with trans lesbian women, and about trans men who can also get pregnant. For the sake of putting an end to whorephobia, to think about LGBTQI and non-binary sex workers. This list may go on and on, but the point is that we, our community – from global to local, need safe abortion.

And from global to local, our human rights situations differ. The Center for Reproductive Rights has created and updates in real time The World’s Abortion Laws. ILGA World has its own maps providing the global overview of laws concerning sexual orientation. Even a quick glance at the two maps reveals how different they are. Some countries have very progressive legislation on both sexual orientation and abortion issues, others fail on both. However, there is no direct correlation. Malta was mentioned earlier. Another example is Latin American states. Less than three months ago, the UN Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of the Independent Expert on SOGI. Importantly, the resolution renewing the mandate has been submitted by seven Latin American states. However, only three of them – Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay, allow abortion on request, with the first two countries making such huge and progressive changes in 2020 and 2022, respectively. Four other states – Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico – still limit access to abortion, specifically to cases where health or the woman’s life are at risk. By contrast, Russia that has become not just an exemplary case of state-sponsored homophobia but also the source of war and complete disregard of international human rights and humanitarian law and principles, – was the first country in the world having legalized abortion as early as 1920, as part of the Soviet project, and even with more recent retrogressive amendments still allows abortion on request.

This means that our struggle continues after the adoption of hate crime legislation or marriage equality – as long as abortion is still not accessible, and vice versa; but also as long as just one side of such regulations is considered in isolation. Cutting access to abortion, performing harmful non-consensual surgeries on intersex children, leaving unpunished sexual violence on lesbians or forcing trans people to conversion therapies – all these are connected, all these are all patriarchal tools to control our bodies and our destinies, these are tools to reinforce patriarchy, but also other forms of oppression. 

This struggle is about our human rights – the right to bodily integrity and the right to make autonomous decisions, the right to privacy and the right to be political, the right to decide if, when and how to have children, and the right to pleasure. Still, international human rights bodies more than frequently overlook the intersection between LGBTQI human rights and access to abortion. For instance, in summer 2021 the UN Working Group on discrimination against women made a special thematic report entitled ‘Women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights in crisis.’ The word ‘abortion’ is used in the report 31 times. There is not a single reference to lesbian, queer, trans, intersex or sexual orientation.

However, there is also good news. In March 2022 the World Health Organization published its new Abortion Care Guideline. Crucially, this document recognizes that ‘cisgender women, transgender men, nonbinary, gender-fluid and intersex individuals with a female reproductive system and capable of becoming pregnant may require abortion care.’ There are also important policy recommendations formulated by the WHO on abortion. First, abortion should be fully decriminalized. Second, laws and other regulations restricting abortion by grounds should be repealed, and abortion should be available on the request of the woman, girl or other pregnant person. Finally, abortion should not be prohibited on the basis of gestational age limits.

These recommendations can serve as the minimum standard for human rights requests from grassroots, national, regional and international feminist and LGBTQI groups; they should also become the standard to rely on for both states and international organizations, including UN human rights bodies.

We know you can do better. Without universal access to safe abortion, even the most progressive LGBTQI policies are too close to being just pink washing. We do not want to be your tool for political gains as we do not want to be a tool for patriarchy, imperialism, and capitalism. See us as we are. And we are the intersectional global community caring and fighting together, and celebrating the International Safe Abortion Day as meaningful for all of us.